WEST DANVILLE — Some residents of the small Vermont hometown of a man charged with stabbing to death a 70-year-old woman at a New Hampshire hotel say the suspect was known for having a short fuse.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Rodney Hill of West Danville repeatedly stabbed the woman Monday night in the lobby of the Hampton Inn in Littleton, N.H., where both were staying. Officials said they were strangers and called it a random attack.

Catherine Houghton, of Novato, Calif., died at a local hospital shortly after the attack.

A man who owns a country store and cafe that Hill frequented said Hill was in the store making a ruckus the day before the attack.

Jeff Downs, owner of Joe’s Pond Country Store, says it didn’t take much to set Hill off.